We Need More of These People

​ ​ ​ Marcus Aurelius was emperor. Cato was a senator. Seneca served as consul. Rusticus was a Roman general. Rutilius served as governor of one of the provinces. These were prestigious and enormously powerful positions. We once had Stoics in high office. We had Stoics making important decisions. We're a long way from that today, aren't we? But then again, this was not exactly representative of Rome either. The vast majority of emperors were nothing like Marcus Aurelius. Most of the senators went along with Nero instead of resisting him. A better picture of the Stoics, then, is someone like Epictetus or someone like Cleanthes. Someone at the bottom of the social hierarchy, trying to make the best of their lives amidst injustice, dysfunction, and frustration. A better picture of the Stoics are the people you've never even heard of—men and women who lived ordinary virtuous lives that were never recorded by history. It is that life that tests the limits of one's endurance. It's that life that is truly a lesson in the dichotomy of control. It is that life, the life of quiet virtue, of decency, of hard work, of finding happiness in a world rather indifferent to your existence, that best defines what Stoicism is about. We are unlikely to be emperor anytime soon. We are unlikely to even register in the historical record. Our job is not to strive against that—to be one of the elite few at the center of things—but rather to try to do our best within our lives to embody courage, discipline, justice and wisdom, whether it is noticed or not. The world needs more of these people—not because they'll make headlines, but because they are timeless keys to living well. This is why over the past five years, we've explored each of these virtues through the Stoic Virtues series, demonstrating how to apply these ancient ideals in our modern world—and the benefits they bring to your life and others. With the upcoming release of Wisdom Takes Work, the fourth and final book of the series, we're offering something really special... ​A limited collector's edition set of all four books, signed and numbered, with a title page identifying these as part of the only printing of the complete Stoic Virtues Series. ​ Preorder the Stoic Virtues collector's set now! Like the virtues themselves, these books are designed to work together, offering Stoic practices and principles that reinforce each other. PLUS, when you preorder the Stoic Virtues collector's edition set, you'll receive one of the notecards Ryan Holiday used while writing the series. If you've been around here awhile, then you know how essential these notecards are to his writing process. ​ ​If you preorder the limited-edition Stoic Virtues collector's set now, you'll also receive these preorder bonuses too: Early access to the introduction of Wisdom Takes Work​ Two BONUS chapters An extended, annotated bibliography of the books that went into the making of Wisdom Takes Work​ The Spotify playlist of the songs Ryan listened to while writing the book Preorder the Stoic Virtues collector's set now! Don't miss out! The publisher told us once these collector's sets sell out, they won't be printing any more… So make sure to get yours while you can! Head to dailystoic.com/stoicvirtues to grab your Stoic Virtues collector's edition set today. ​ *** ​Unsubscribe | Update your profile​ ​906 Main Street #274, Bastrop, Texas 78602 | info@dailystoic.com is not a monitored email